5 defensive coaches Seattle Seahawks could replace Pete Carroll with

Luke Fickell

I am not smart enough to run an NFL but if I was, one of the first offers I would make would be an attempt to lure Luke Fickell to coach the team. I will have another good college coach listed here in just a bit but there is a difference between Fickell and the one that follows.

Fickell has succeeded in a state with the long shadow of Ohio State football. In fact, this year he has so far eclipsed OSU. Fickell coaches the University of Cincinnati and in the last two years his teams have not lost a regular-season game. This year Cincinnati has a good chance of making the college football playoff.

Fickell has been the head coach at Cincinnati since 2017 but before that he was a defensive coordinator or a defensive position coach. When he became a head coach his defenses didn’t suddenly become secondary to him. He has made Cincinnati’s units into some of the best in the country. His defenses not only are stout up the middle against the run but they create turnovers and are ultra-aggressive in the secondary. They look a lot like the way the Legion of Boom was set up.

In 2020, Fickell’s defense was in the top-15 nationally in five categories but it isn’t just because his defense out-talents other teams. Remember, he coaches in a state where OSU (and Fickell is a former player and coach at the university) where OSU would get the prized recruits. But Fickell uses whatever scheme gets the best out of the players he has and makes his players better individually and as a team.

This is the mark of a great coach. It’s one thing to have good athletes but getting the most out of them is the key and Fickell would do that for the Seahawks. Plus, he wouldn’t have to worry about recruiting. Also, Fickell’s players love to play for him and that cannot be undervalued.